The Dark Energy Wars
by InfectedLife
Summary: Duo is a lost boy in a world consumed by war. His only chance for survival lies in a corrupt military whose solitary goal is to find five pilots who can master the power of the gundams. And they don't care who they have to kill to find them.
1. Chapter 1

The Dark Energy Wars

A long time ago when life was simpler, when wars only involved humans, and space was just a giant black vacuum that contained nothing but the dreams of men, the most intelligent minds on the planet could only account for and had barely begun to understand roughly four percent of all the matter and energy that existed in the universe. The rest of it, the things they didn't understand, were referred to as 'dark.' Dark matter got its title because it was just that, when peered at through an extremely sensitive telescope there were solid regions in space that looked blacker than the rest, heavier somehow. Dark energy, on the other hand, was called that because top scientific minds were completely in the dark about it. Dark energy couldn't actually be seen but all the mathematical equations and observations about the world and space said that there must have existed somewhere in the universe a lot more energy than what was accounted for. No one had any idea where this energy could be or what its possibilities were. And no one ever guessed that dark energy could be alive, that is until the First Dark Energy War.

The end of the twenty eighth century would also be the end of Earth. Most of mankind no longer lived on Earth, the planet was mainly home to the poor who couldn't afford to live in space or the terminally ill whose diseases were being quarantined and hopefully extracted from the human race by being perfectly contained on the blue planet. They were the unlucky that were slaughtered, and the men of space made no effort to strike up retaliation. Why get more people killed when it was just the dregs of society and an over-polluted planet that got destroyed anyway? Such was the logic of the human race.

It was a small force that had been sent by the enemy to destroy Earth, and had the human race worked together they may have been able to defeat it. Too bad nobody had figured that out even by the time the Second Dark Energy War had begun not five months later. The handful of survivors from the first war were finally able to convince their race of the wisdom in working together to defeat an indomitable enemy. Thus the beginnings of the first human alliance were formed which would, in less than a year, become the elite organization known as SAFE. When first formed, SAFE had been a special operations branch of the military. They focused on missions in outer space and the development of special fighting machines known as mobile suits. The original five suits that were developed were the most powerful and used technology stolen from the Dark Energists themselves. They had been developed by a small group of elite scientists who had been studying dark energy for their entire lives and needed only see it in action to finally understand it. They had been destroyed with the earth but their suits had lived on. No one alive understood the technology imbedded in the anthropologic giant robots, but they didn't care as long as they could find pilots for the mechanical beasts.

That was the true purpose of SAFE, to find the five pilots that could wield the incredible power of the five mobile suits, known to all as the Gundams, that the scientists had created and guaranteed could save the remainder of the human race. It was quickly discovered that not just anyone could pilot the Gundams. They had been designed to only accept their true pilots, the ones who would be able to control that awesome power. So far all attempts to find suitable pilots had resulted in death. There was a pattern though, it seemed that only those who had seen a Dark Energist could get anywhere close to the machines.

That's when it was discovered that people who had been on Earth during the attacks contained a small amount of dark energy within themselves. It was one of the unusual properties of dark energy, it seemed to transfer very easily out of the metallic bodies of the enemy but stayed well contained within the flesh of man. Some had more of the mysterious substance in them than others, though it was not understood why. These survivors were well sought after by the military, for they were humanity's last hope. The dregs of society that had been sanctioned off and left to die of starvation and disease by the colonists, were now their only saviors.

SAFE eventually evolved and took over the entire military since all humans were allied with each other, the only threat they faced was the one that SAFE had been originally created for. So a training program was set up and all those who were able-bodied were offered a salary and free schooling if they joined the military forces. Naturally the offer drew in exactly what the military was looking for, young men who had survived Earth's destruction. They were poor and needed the paycheck and they needed even more to quench their thirst for revenge. Many others came too though, young men and women from the colonies flocked to the floating barge to join the ranks of the military, but still no pilots for the Gundams had been found. So the human race was left no choice but to wait for the next unstoppable attack; the final war that would at last finish them off.

Duo Maxwell was late, this was not unusual but this time it meant life or death for the boy. He had quit his lousy job with quite the public display that involved giving his boss the finger when he had seen the military's offer for a good salary, free meals, and an education for all young men who were willing to fight. He wasn't sure how he felt about the fighting part, but his crappy job, meager earnings and empty stomach had convinced him that he could pretend to be interested in their training if for nothing else than three square meals a day. He didn't know who he was but people told him that he must have been from Earth because he was so poor. He'd believe it. It would be just his luck to be one of those cursed souls from that lost planet. At least it would prove his point that there was nowhere he truly belonged, which meant he had even less qualms about joining the military.

Well at least he had planned to join, but if missed the shuttle he wasn't going to be joining anything accept the nearest unemployment line. Fifteen years old and he already hated life, he couldn't wait to find out what his midlife crisis would be like if he was already signing up for the armed forces on a whim and a growling stomach. He saw the shuttle just twenty meters in front of him, the last person was already climbing in, but he would make it. When he wanted to he could run really fast, faster than any one else on the streets and that had come in handy. He made it to the shuttle door just as a large man in a red and black military uniform hit the button to close it.

"Wait." He screamed at the man, waving his sign-up form like a madman. "You've got one more, don't forget me!" The man eyed him like he was scum. He supposed that to a perfectly preened and buzzed military man like this guy, his disheveled appearance and long hair were a disturbing sight indeed. He chuckled about that, they were nuts if they thought he would ever let anyone come near his hair. He supposed he would tolerate the uniform if it meant food and a warm bed.

"You're late." The man glared coldly before ripping the paper out of Duo's hands and skimming over it with much distaste. "You think you might be from Earth? That's what you put for your place of origin?" Duo shuffled uncomfortably under the man's searing glare, he obviously had a fetish for perfect paperwork.

"Well I can't really remember but sometimes I dream of a place that I don't think could exist in space." The man's glare rose in intensity about ten notches and the absolute haughty distaste he had for Duo could almost be seen in the air around him. Duo swallowed and scratched his nose, uncomfortable under the man's intense scrutiny. The military official took hold of Duo's information sheet with both hands and began to rip it right in Duo's face.

"What the fu…"

"Lt. Char, I would appreciate it if you would let the boy through so we can get going. You have wasted enough time we could have lifted off by now." Duo heaved a sigh of relief and the giant of a military officer stepped back to reveal a deceptively slender gentleman dressed in the same pristine military uniform. It was obvious he was of a higher rank though and his gray eyes twinkled in amusement. His pale silver hair was short and spiked and fell in small chunks against his fair skin. Duo instantly liked this guy a thousand times better than the ugly brute at the door, well he was a thousand times better looking anyway and he didn't look at Duo like trash that needed to be taken out.

"I am Col. Zettai, welcome to SAFE." The man held out a hand of long slender fingers and Duo took it enthusiastically, he thought he might be developing a bit of a crush on the Colonel. "Go ahead and take your seat, we need to launch now." Duo nodded and hefted his shoulder bag back into place before turning to search for an empty seat. The aircraft's interior was made up of rows of paired seats that went all the way back to the end of the enormous shuttle. And there was only one seat empty and it was pretty obvious why.

The guy that sat at the window seat, which Duo had really wanted, looked like he would punch the lights out of anyone who tried to come near him, let alone sit next to him. His eyes were cold as ice and hard as steel, his body language screamed 'fuck off' and his scowl could probably kill you if you looked directly at it. Yeah if looks could kill, this man could win the whole war by himself. Fucking one-man army that one was, and damned scary. Obviously a loner and Duo didn't feel like trying to get him to break out of his shell anytime soon. He rather enjoyed having all his body parts still attached and his face in order, but he didn't have much of a choice. It was either sit next to the jerk-off with the mobile suit jammed up his ass, or stand there like an idiot and risk getting another glare from Lt. Big, Burly and Stupid. Who was practically breathing down his neck with open disgust.

He gave a quick sigh before trotting down the isle with all eyes on him, he tried to act cool under the scrutiny of his fellow trainees but it was difficult. He reached the only available seat and stopped to glance around one last time in hope that he had missed an empty chair. No such luck, everyone in the shuttle quickly averted their eyes to avoid getting caught in their morbid curiosity. Duo was surprised when the few eyes that did not turn away were not actually staring at him but at the scowling boy already sitting. They were waiting to see what he would do if Duo tried to sit down. Great, now he really felt like taking this seat was somehow going to be his death sentence. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath then thrust out his hand for the boy to shake.

"Hi there, the name's Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie." His hand remained in the air and waited to be shook, and waited, and waited. The boy didn't even bother to look up from the window. Duo frowned, maybe the guy wasn't a rude bastard and was just lost in his thoughts? Yeah right, Duo knew how loud he was and there was no way in hell the boy just hadn't heard him.

"Hello, I'm talking to you." There was collective gasp from the rest of the occupants. Apparently you were supposed to tread softly around this guy. Well Duo didn't do that for anyone so this jerk could just take a long hike off a short cliff as far as he was concerned.

"Maxwell, take your damn seat." Lt. Asshole yelled at him from the front of the shuttle and Duo couldn't help the startled little yelp that escaped. He frowned again and opened the overhead compartment to shove his stuff in. Apparently the little jerk in his window seat hadn't planned on sitting next to anyone because his stuff took up the entire storage. Duo got a little bit too much joy out of shoving the boy's things roughly aside to squeeze his own bag in. That earned him a glare from Mr. Cool and Arrogant that could have frozen hell over, but Duo proudly ignored it and continued harshly shoving his bag into the tiny compartment. It didn't take long for the inevitable, one of his pouches popped open and junk food and his hairbrush came tumbling down on top of his head. Everyone in the shuttle burst into laughter, except the boy he was supposed to sit next to that is, and Lt. Stick up the Ass.

"Maxwell sit down!" The man hollered and the entire shuttle shut up instantly. Duo grumbled as he threw his loose belongings into compartment and slammed it shut, it popped back open and there were a few stifled giggles from the other passengers. Duo growled and closed the compartment door, swore at it once, and took his seat with petulance. He slouched down into his chair with a frown on his face and continued grumbling about gorillas in military uniforms as he crossed his arms defiantly over his chest. He felt something cold wash over his body, like he had suddenly been drenched in ice, and turned to look at his seatmate for the trip to SAFE headquarters. The glare on that boy was like a laser beam being shot right through him, and he could have sworn he saw the boy's hands clench as though they wished to choke something.

"What." Duo managed to grind out. The boy's blue eyes were so dark they were almost black and his scowl was fierce, but Duo would not back down. Wild chocolate brown hair framed a young but chiseled face. The word untamable popped into Duo's mind before he could stop it. It was true though, the boy reminded him of a wild animal that refused to be caged. He was also very handsome, if you went for that whole stuck-up, arrogant ass with a giant chip on his shoulder the size of a planet thing. Which Duo did not, but that didn't stop him from admitting that the boy was pleasant to look at. He had a gray cotton tank top on and a pair of dark denim jeans. A rather nice black leather jacket was lying in his lap and Duo felt a little embarrassed about the worn out state of his own clothing. The way the muscles flexed in the guy's arms when they tightened in annoyance told Duo that there was quite a bit of strength hidden by the boy's slim size. The boy huffed indignantly then turned back to his window.

"Moron." He muttered still scowling. Though he now refused to look at Duo, instead his eyes were once again resolutely trained on the midday scene outside the shuttle window. Duo sputtered for a moment and had just decided that this boy needed to be decked, badly, when the shuttle chose that moment to begin its take off. Duo muffled his surprised cry as the shuttle began to rumble to life and not a few moments later he felt his head being pushed back into the cushiony seat by the invisible inertial forces. His violet eyes were wide and unblinking as they left the ion atmosphere of the enormous colony on Mars and entered into the blackness of outer space. Duo snuck a glance at his seatmate, wondering if the boy was as in awe of the new experience as he was. But the guy just looked bored as he looked out the window, like he had done this a thousand times. This kid wasn't natural.

"Hey." Duo managed to speak once the force on his body lifted when they finally exited the planet's gravitational pull. "If you've done this before, flew in space I mean, you think I could look out the window a bit?" The boy didn't even blink, didn't look at him, and took his sweet time to respond.

"I've never flown before." Was his clipped response and in Duo's mind it confirmed that the boy wasn't natural. How could he be so calm, so indifferent, when this was the first time he had ever done this? And how the hell was he not affected by the damn G-force?

"Well could I get a peek? I just really want to see outer space." This was met with an annoyed grunt but much to Duo's surprise the boy leaned back so Duo could see through the tiny shuttle window. Duo smiled and leaned forward stare out at the enormous expanse. He had thought he would see a thousand stars, but he didn't see anything, just black. Like they were floating in nothing, he couldn't even tell that they were moving. It was the oddest feeling and it made him shiver. That cold unforgiving nothingness, it seemed so familiar to him and yet he couldn't remember looking at anything so black before.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" At first Duo had thought his seatmate had asked the question but that seemed highly unlikely. Then he felt someone behind him, looking at him. He glanced back over his shoulder and was pleasantly surprised to find Col. Zettai standing behind him looking down at him with that same bemused twinkle. Duo smiled and gave one last look out the window before turning to meet his superior.

"I think it looks cold and lonely." Duo said and could have slammed his head into the seat in front of him for opening his big mouth like that. Now the colonel was going to think he was some kind of weakling who was scared of outer space. He wasn't scared at all, in fact he was pretty sure that he and the great black abyss out there would probably get along just fine. Despite the way he acted Duo actually favored being on his own most of the time, it was easier to survive when you only had to think about your own life. Caring for people was too hard, Duo had learned that lesson the hard way. Cold and alone, yes he and outer space were a perfect match.

"Maybe it just prefers to be left undisturbed." Yeah that was definitely his seatmate's response this time. The boy had balls, Duo would give him that, he was glaring with all his worth at the smiling colonel and wasn't backing down. Colonel Zettai glanced down at the electronic clipboard he was carrying and pushed a few buttons with the sleek metallic laser-pen.

"Hmm, let's see, you must be Heero Yuy. Only surviving member of the famous Yuy military resource satellite. You were living on mars when the attack on the satellite happened. You're transferring to SAFE from one of the local training camps…hmm, top of the class and you follow all orders without question. A perfect record." Duo just snorted, this explained all the arrogance. "Seems you have trouble working in a group, I'll tell you right now that if that continues you wont be a soldier for SAFE." The colonel was still smiling but it looked dangerous, Heero just continued to glare like he wanted to burn a hole through the man then finally managed to bite out a very reluctant response.

"Yes sir." The colonel did not miss the sarcastic tone and his gray eyes took on a sharp gleam. He let it slip for now, however, and turned his attentions back to Duo his look instantly softening.

"I hope you have a good flight Duo." He smiled and went along his way back towards the front of the shuttle where he met up with the ogre of a lieutenant.

"You shouldn't make enemies with the instructors." Duo warned but Heero just grunted and turned back to his window. It didn't look like he was going to say anything for the rest of their trip. Duo heaved a loud sigh, which slowly developed into a yawn, he really wasn't used to waking up early on the weekend. He felt a dull burn behind the back of his eyes and decided that a little nap couldn't hurt. After all there was no way he was going to be able to snag the window away from his grouchy seatmate again. Damn he really wished he had gotten there earlier. One, so he could have a window seat. Two, so he didn't have to sit next to such an arrogant jackass. His eyes drifted closed and with one last happy thought that at least the colonel liked him, Duo drifted off to sleep.

He found himself lost in his most frequent dream. There was blue above him and it in was something bright and warm, its warmth permeated his tanned skin. There was a tree and a swing and a woman with a kind smile. He never could see her face, but he could smell her. She smelled like flowers, like roses and baby's breath, and she held him close as she sat him down on the rickety wooden swing. She would always sing, a haunting tune that would echo in his mind even after he woke up. She pushed him once, twice, he laughed and so did she. Her laughter like the sweet tinkling of wind chimes, or was it actual wind chimes that he heard? The dream often became fuzzy at this point. She would push him once more then there would be that sound, that horrible sickening crackling and his world would be drenched in shadows. Shadows that blocked out all the warmth he had been feeling. She would scream and it would make him want to scream and cry even though he didn't know who this woman was. Then it would feel as though he were being lifted and swallowed by nothing. He couldn't see anything, hear anything, smell anything, or feel anything. He wasn't afraid, he wasn't angry, there was just nothing. He wondered if the woman was all right. He wondered if this was what it felt like to die. Something strong grabbed his shoulders and he felt himself tumbling out of the nothingness. Strange, that had never happened in the dream before. Duo woke up to being pushed by Heero Yuy until he nearly fell out of his seat.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Duo growled as he tried to regain his seating. Heero just glared at him then huffed and turned away.

"You fell asleep on me moron, stay in your own space." Duo flustered at the insult and the thought of sleeping on the handsome scowling teen. That was the last straw, this time Heero Yuy was getting it right between the eyes. Heero seemed to sense the approaching battle and turned to look at Duo with a smug arrogance that said exactly what he thought of Duo's threat. Pathetic, it whispered to Duo and it made him ten times more pissed off. He was just about to sock Heero in the jaw when there was an announcement over the shuttles intercom.

"We will be experiencing turbulence, please buckle in." Duo's head instantly snapped up and stared at the talking device. What could cause turbulence in space? There was nothing out there. Actually, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Forgetting all about his battle with Heero, Duo straightened up in his seat and pulled the buckle across his lap. Heero reluctantly did the same but he glared at the device before he finally snapped himself in. What did the guy think he was, too good even for a safety device? What a jerk.

That's when it hit, the lights in the shuttled flickered briefly and Duo's seat seemed to come to life beneath him, trying to buck him off. He glanced to his left and saw what looked like small clods of dirt smashing into the magnetic field around the shuttle, the one that allowed the to leave the colony's ion atmosphere and fly so quickly through space. The dirt balls instantly disintegrated once they hit the field but Duo couldn't help the slight panic that rose in him. He gripped his armrests a little tighter and the muscles in his back were almost painfully stiff. He snuck a quick glance at the boy sitting next to him. Nothing! The guy was a damn statue. He had the nerve to actually look bored as he leaned back in his chair and watched the dirt clods explode into nothing.

This went on for ten minutes and Heero barely blinked. Duo had to practically force his fingers to release the edges of his armrests and then he had to sit there for ten minutes trying to get each of his muscles to relax. And Heero hadn't even flinched. This guy really was top of the class, wasn't he? Well Duo would show him, he was going to beat this guy if it killed him. It was his personal mission now.

About a half hour later the noise of kids talking once again filled the shuttle and Duo couldn't believe that he was actually one of the quiet kids. It just didn't feel right. Of course if he had a better seat partner he would easily be the loudest person in this shuttle, but no, he got to sit next to the great Heero Yuy. The boy who thinks he's too good to lower himself and speak to someone like Duo. Ok so Duo was just making wild guesses at this point but since the guy didn't talk he figured he could assume whatever he wanted. He also figured that he would have to find other things to do since his neighbor was so dull.

He stood up and opened the overhead compartment, reaching out for the lose junk food that he knew was in there. He received a heated glare from Heero but pretended not to notice and grabbed a couple of bags of sugarcoated dried fruits. They were pretty unhealthy but basically natural and tasted good. The chewy apricot things were his favorite. Since real fruit was hard to come by in the space colonies, these were a great alternative. He wrestled with the foil bag for a few minutes, he always did have trouble opening the dang things. They were vacuum-sealed to keep fresh.

"Knock it off moron, that noise is annoying." Heero grumbled at him. Duo just sneered at the boy and continued noisily battling with his snack. A few more minutes of the crinkling noise and Duo found the bag being snatched out of his hands.

"Hey!" He tried to snatch the bag back but Heero kept it out of reach and in a second had ripped the thing wide open.

"How?" Duo looked surprised for a second but anger was quickly in its place. "What, do you have to do everything better than everyone else?" He spat out angrily to his seat partner. Heero just shrugged smugly.

"It's not like it was hard, I can't help it if you're incompetent." Duo growled and snatched his bag back, but not before Heero pilfered one of the treats inside.

"What the hell?" Duo was pretty sure he was going to hit the guy this time. He watched Heero pop the fruit into his mouth, it had been one of the apricots! He looked down into his bag, the only apricot! The bastard was as good as dead.

"Payment." Heero commented smugly after he swallowed Duo's snack. Never come between a boy and his food. Heero needed to learn that lesson and Duo was all but too happy to oblige. He curled one hand into a fist, prepared to give Heero a piece of his mind and a black eye when once again the speakers buzzed to life and the pilots made an announcement. What were they psychic?

"We will be docking in five minutes." Duo's eyes snapped wide and he jumped over Heero's lap to look out the window at the approaching barge. He completely forgot that just ten seconds ago he had been looking to clobber the boy. The SAFE barge was huge and it just hung there in the middle of space like it was nothing. Duo sucked in a deep breath, his heart constricted with excitement as his stomach tied itself into knots. He could hardly tear his eyes away from the massive floating gray structure, but he supposed Heero was probably ready to kill him and even though the guy was an ass this was too incredible to not let him see. Speaking of his asshole seatmate, Duo hadn't realized that when he had leaned forward and grabbed Heero's armrest for support that Heero's hand had been currently occupying it. He looked at the pale skin that stood out against his own slightly tan hand and knew his lifespan had just been shortened greatly. He took a breath and turned to face the inevitable.

"Sor…" He was cut short by a pair shocked blue eyes just millimeters away from his own. Duo could see all the different shades blue that made up Heero's icy glare and the occasional fleck of gold. The boy's eyes were wide with shock and Duo realized that he could feel the boy's breath on his upper lip. In fact if Duo were to move at all he would probably end up kissing those lips set in that thin deadly frown. Heero had been leaning over him to see the barge and when Duo had turned around he had nearly locked lips with angry youth. So why the hell was Duo still thinking about kissing him? And why weren't those lips pressed into that angry frown like they had been a moment ago? He pulled back quickly, shocked by his own train of thought, and almost laughed at the dazed look on Heero's face. But it was gone pretty fast and Heero was glaring like he could behead Duo with just his eyes. Then he snorted indignantly and turned so that his back was facing Duo and did not look anywhere else but out that window.

Duo couldn't think of anything to say so he slouched back down in his chair with a deep frown on his face to match Heero's. He pulled the tip of his braid over his shoulder and started fiddling with the end of it until he felt the small turbulence and it was announced that they were docked. Duo jumped up and quickly grabbed his things out of the overhead. He left the rest of the junk food though, he just wanted to get out of the shuttle as fast as possible, and then he made his way quickly into the enormous floating barge.


	2. Chapter 2

The Dark Energy Wars

When Duo stepped off the shuttle he found himself in the long gray hallway of the space fortress. There were a bunch of other kids already there, some older, none younger than him, and they were all talking and laughing as they walked down the metal corridor. When they got to the end a short man with dark hair, glasses, and a frown shouted at them to follow the blue lights. Duo looked around but couldn't understand what the man was talking about, there weren't any lights.

"Above you." Came a soft voice to his left and Duo whipped his head around to find the source. It was another boy about his age with soft light blonde hair and a smile that touched his teal blue eyes. Duo smiled crookedly at the boy before looking above his head. To his surprise the ceiling had different colored stripes painted on it that seemed to glow like lights, and there was indeed a blue strip. He huffed at himself and shook his head. He felt like an idiot.

"It tells you what they mean on the panel behind you, next to the door." Duo nodded and strolled over to the panel curiously.

"I'm going to go ahead now, I'll keep an eye out for you." The blonde was smiling at him again and Duo smiled back widely. It was very refreshing to know that there was someone like this on the barge. He had started to think that everyone who signed up for the military had to have a steel rod surgically shoved up their ass.

"Great, I'll look for you too. We can eat together." He said with a grin and the blonde nodded emphatically, then waved as he dashed off to catch up to another boy. This one was very tall and looked a year or two older but that didn't matter to Duo. He had just made a friend and that was all he needed. Hell, the tall one looked nice too. Crazy hair he had going on, it practically stuck out the front of his head, but Duo couldn't wait to count him as a friend too. He concentrated on the lit up panel and read that the blue line would take him to the training rooms for all the different years. Then for the hell of it he read where the other stripes would take him, it would probably come in handy anyway. The yellow line took him to the mess hall, he would definitely be following that one a lot. The green line took him to the barracks, he had slept on the shuttle so he could definitely hold off on a nap until they fed him. The orange line led him to the team battle zone, he supposed they would explain what that meant later. The red took him to the classrooms. Ugh, school. And the purple stripe would take him to the recreational area. That sounded promising.

He got the sudden feeling that he wasn't alone, he glanced to his right and saw his seatmate Heero Yuy also studying the panel. He looked like he was memorizing some kind of vital information. Duo almost laughed at him but contained his mirth, barely.

"Jeez Dude, I'm sure these little panels will be everywhere. It's not life or death if you can't find your way to the bathroom." Duo laughed but Heero didn't seem to think it was so funny. He grunted and turned away from the boy with nothing but arrogance in his cold eyes.

"Then don't come crying to me when you still can't find the showers and you smell even worse than you do now." Duo frowned at Heero's back and let the boy retreat down the hall a ways, putting some distance between them before he flipped him off then followed. He hoped he didn't have to see that guy too often. This place was pretty big, he could avoid the jerk couldn't he? He sighed as he followed the rest of the kids through a maze of metallic walls, glancing up at the ceiling every now and then to make sure he was going the right way. When he reached the end of a really long corridor it opened into a wide room where they were sectioning off all the incoming soldiers from the returning. First years were also being divided up according to their age. He saw the silver haired colonel from the shuttle waving a few kids over and making notes on his board. Duo started walking over to him smiling.

"Col. Zettai!" He shouted and waved at the man who was scanning his electronic clipboard again. "How do I know where to go?" Duo asked and the man looked up and smiled at him, brushing a few silver stray locks out of his stormy eyes.

"Well, how old are you?" Duo frowned thoughtfully, there was no way for him to know for sure. He had just always assumed his age based on what he looked like compared to other kids.

"Let's say fifteen, I think I look about that don't you?" The man just laughed and shook his head.

"Whatever you say, the military doesn't really care as long as you're willing to fight." Duo arched an eyebrow. Did the colonel have a problem with the way the military was run?

"Well you guessed a good age, that puts you in my group." The man smiled at him again then looked down at his clipboard and tapped a couple times with the little metal pen. A funny look crossed the man's face for an instant and Duo wondered what it meant but it passed quickly.

"Well line up soldier." He said with a smile and friendly slap on Duo's shoulder. "Go ahead, right in front of me in that pathetic excuse for a line." The colonel chuckled and Duo smiled and nodded then headed toward the mass of kids standing in something that resembled a lightning bolt much more than a line. Naturally Heero Yuy was standing perfectly still in the back of the pseudo-line. Everyone else was laughing and talking and looking around at their strange new home, but not Heero. He just stood there, glaring daggers at anything that dared to approach him. There was sort of this empty space between him and the rest of the line where the people around him had backed away from the glowering boy. If the guy wasn't such an arrogant prick Duo might have actually felt bad for him, after all everyone deserved a friend. Of course he had silently declared war on Heero Yuy so he sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to try and befriend the boy.

He searched the line for the blonde he had met earlier so he could join him but when he found the boy he was quite a few lines down with that taller kid Duo had seen him with earlier. Did this mean that the blonde was older than him? The boy certainly didn't look his age. Well, he supposed he really didn't have any other choice then. He walked to the end of the line, firmly ignoring the blue eyes glaring at him and lined up behind Heero without a single word to the taciturn boy. More people filed in and when everyone appeared to be accounted for each uniformed military man took his line into different side-rooms. Duo followed his age group into a blue training room where he was instructed to get in another line against the far wall. He ended up standing between Heero and a girl with short purple hair. Two other men and a woman, all in uniforms, came into the room and stood before the line of future soldiers. Col. Zettai stepped forward and lowered his clipboard.

"You are not yet soldiers of SAFE, this first year will determine which of you has what it takes to join our ranks. You will be split into teams of six and each team will have one of these officers as their captain and instructor. Your team will be your family, you will rely on each other to survive through the year. A soldier is worthless if he can't work as a unit." The silver haired colonel looked more serious than Duo had ever seen, even more than when Heero had tried to tell him to get lost. Guess there were a lot of different sides to this guy. 'And,' Duo thought, 'they're all pretty damn good looking.'

"Teams will now be assigned. When I point to you call out your number starting with you." Col. Zettai pointed to the first kid at the end of the line furthest from Duo. "You're number one." The kid nodded and the colonel pointed to the next kid who called out the number two. When they got to six the colonel stopped and told them they were group one and made them follow the female officer out of the room. This continued on until it hit Duo that he was probably going to be a member of Heero's team. Damn.

The counting off continued until there were only six kids and the colonel left in the room. The colonel looked each one of them over, it had to be some kind of mind game. Psyche the kids out and see how they reacted to get a gauge on the person's character. Most looked nervous under his scrutiny. Duo just smiled and he could have sworn he saw the man give him a friendly wink. Heero glared as if he was daring the officer to find a fault in him and Duo rolled his eyes. Col. Zettai looked the boy over and then spoke to the whole team without taking his eyes off of Heero.

"Guess you guys are with me. You'll all need a lot of work but it doesn't look absolutely hopeless." Heero's glare intensified and the colonel looked away to the rest of the team. "Well let's get our happy family unpacked, shall we?"

The colonel had them line up again before he led them to their barracks. Duo got the feeling that if he learned nothing else his first year he would sure as hell know how to line up. The rooms were like tiny, poorly furnished apartments. There were three bedrooms that joined together with a common room that had a couple of threadbare couches and a table. Duo just wanted to know where he was going to store his junk food.

"I'll let you guys settle in then I'll be back to take you to the mess hall. Training starts first thing tomorrow morning." The colonel's eyes paused briefly when they reached Duo before he shut the door.

"Guess we should decide rooms." The girl with purple hair spoke up.

"Shouldn't we introduce ourselves first?" A boy by the couch responded.

"Oh yes, that's a good idea. I'll go first." Duo eyed her for a minute, she seemed nice, but man that go-go-go attitude was going to get on his nerves. He liked to do things in his own time.

"My name is Hilde. I'm fifteen and I come from the Naphtol military base on Mars section five. I was fourth in my class and the leader of my squad." Yep she was definitely one of those people that just got on his nerves after too much exposure.

"My name is Rio. I come from the number three moon colony. I have no previous military background but my whole family was in the military so it's my destiny to join." The boy from the couch spoke and Duo couldn't decide if he was going to like this guy or not, oh well he supposed he better.

"My name is Kayra. I come from one of the space stations. Number four actually. I went to a military school but we didn't train or anything it was just a school." She blushed a little. Duo thought she was nice, he couldn't understand what she was doing here but then again he barely understood why he was here.

"My name's Kabe. I also come from the moon, number seven colony. I came from the Augusta base there." Duo had no idea that so many people had previous military experience. He had forgotten that SAFE had many influences including small bases all over space and academies to draw in even younger soldiers. He looked over at Heero who didn't appear to be looking at anything neither did he seem to have any intention of speaking up any time soon. Duo sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Guess it's my turn. The name's Duo, I don't know where I'm from but I've been living on Mars section 2. I have no military background but my life wasn't going anywhere so I figured I'd enlist." The group eyed him like he was growing another head. Man, was it just because he wasn't as military-crazed as everyone else seemed to be? He shrugged and waited for Heero to say his piece. He had heard it all from the colonel on the shuttle but it would be interesting to hear Heero's take on his life. There was a very long pause during which Heero was given many strange looks. Finally the boy spoke.

"Heero Yuy."

Duo waited politely for the boy to continue, to brag about being top of his class and all his other achievements. He was waiting for the arrogant jerk to rub all their noses in his inherent greatness. And he kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It never came. That was it? That was all he was going to say? His name? The others looked at him oddly then gave each other serious looks.

"Well I think we should chose rooms now, the colonel will be back soon to take us to dinner." Hilde smiled and Duo thought a little better of her. She seemed to be as concerned about eating as he was. She could make a good meal buddy if he couldn't find the blonde boy from earlier.

"I definitely think that the girls should room together so we'll just go pick out our room and let you boys sort out everything else." For some reason Duo had a really bad feeling about this. The other two boys were eyeing Heero with fear and glancing at each other in something like silent communication. Damn, his fate was sealed. Well, he better make it look like choice then. If they were supposed to be a family they certainly couldn't be fighting on the first day. He felt a little sorry for Heero too, nobody wanted to be the boy's roommate. Heero, however, seemed like he couldn't care less if they liked him or not. With a quick shrug Duo walked over to stand next to Heero, who looked mildly surprised by this action but soon the look vanished.

"I think I'll be rooming with my pal here." He said cheerfully then flung an arm around Heero's shoulders with a grin. His arm was immediately shrugged off. He just rolled his eyes and continued smiling. The other two boys looked extremely shocked and yet relieved. Damn, this was going to be a long year.

Somebody had delivered their bags rather quickly, pretty efficient little system, and Duo found his on the floor. He stepped away from Heero and walked over to it hoisting it over his shoulder. He noticed Heero picked up his own black bag and started walking off to a room. Duo eyed him for minute with awe. He didn't ask which room the other two boys wanted, he didn't ask Duo which room he wanted, he just walked to the farthest room and went in. Duo looked over to the other two who had just watched him leave without a word.

"Hope you guys didn't want that room." He said with a smile and they chuckled a little. He felt a tiny bit bad about making a joke at Heero's expense but then again the boy really did bring it on himself with the way he acted. Duo readjusted his bag and reluctantly followed Heero into their room. An entire year living with this guy, he didn't know how he was going to survive it.

"Hey Heero buddy could'ya wait for me." He hollered as he stepped into his new room. He found Heero's bag sitting on the bottom bunk already open and the boy starting to unpack. Duo frowned.

"You bastard. What if I had wanted the bottom?" 'Inconsiderate prick,' Duo thought as he huffed and threw his bag on one of the metal desks in the room and began pulling things out. He really didn't have many belongings. He glanced over at his callous new roommate and frowned. The boy hadn't even paused in his unpacking. He hadn't even looked up when Duo had entered. Was the guy going to spend the entire year pretending Duo didn't exist? Duo shrugged, it was probably for the better. He resumed unpacking, throwing his clothes on the floor beside him while he searched for the things that would go into his desk like his own electronic clipboards where he could download his text books and take his notes. He pulled out an eyepiece that slipped over his ear and the finger attachments that went with it. He was fairly proud of this, it was a pretty new computer model that simply had a bad wire but had been thrown out. He had salvaged it and repaired the delicate machine with parts and tools "borrowed" from the electronic-junk store he had been working for. Now if he could just find his e-mod. The hearing aid looking device had dozens of his favorite songs stored on it, he would have thousands but it cost too much. There was a small noise from the other side of the room like someone clearing their throat. He turned around to find Heero looking rather angry with him.

"What?" Duo asked with malice.

"Could you please try to be clean. From looking at you I can tell you aren't used to it, but I don't want my room to turn into pigsty." He pointed at Duo's pile of clothes on the floor and his lips curled in disgust.

"It's not like I wasn't going to pick them up. You don't have to be such a jerk." Duo roughly grabbed his clothes off the floor and shoved them into the empty metal dresser.

"Happy?" He said to the blue-eyed boy with biting sarcasm.

"At least I don't have to smell them, when was the last time they were washed?" The smug look on Heero's face was enough to earn him the punch he received from Duo. He looked shocked that the boy had done such a thing, but only for a second before he socked Duo in the gut. It felt like a sledge hammer had just swung into his abdomen and Duo fell forward coughing. He growled and cursed himself. He would not be beat by Heero. His leg shot out and clipped the arrogant boy's shin, sending him sprawling to the ground where Duo jumped on him and prepared to punch his lights out but Heero was fast and pushed him back. He shot up and wrestled Duo to the ground, pinning his limbs with a triumphant smirk. Duo felt trapped, he couldn't explain the sudden cold that washed over his body. His world narrowed and he felt something inside him burn with an white-hot fire, it flared through his muscles and slowly he was able to push back against the boy's hold on him. Heero stared in absolute shock as Duo's left fist was able to push back against him and lift off the floor. He put all his strength into holding that arm down and for a while it looked like he had overpowered the boy but then he felt that arm once again struggling against him. To his shock the boy's knuckles were actually able to rise off the ground. He glanced quickly back to Duo's oddly blue colored eyes and found them much darker than he remembered. He recognized that look. Was Duo…?

"Yuy, get off of him." The angry voice of Col. Zettai broke through the air like lightening in a thunderstorm. Duo's eyes instantly lost that dark gleam and his hand fell back hard against the metal floor. Heero snorted and stood up off the boy, glaring at the colonel before turning to leave the room.

"This is your warning Yuy, anything like this happens again and you'll be packing those bags. Got it?" The colonel ground out but Heero barely acknowledged him and continued walking nonchalantly out of the room. Duo peeled himself off the cold metal floor and rubbed his aching wrists. Heero had a hell of a grip.

"You all right Duo?" The colonel took hold of his hands and turned them over a couple times, inspecting his wrists for injury. Duo felt butterflies take flight in his stomach at the colonel's unexpected touch. His hands were released but Duo could feel a touch lingering, he wasn't sure if it was the colonel's or Heero's.

"It's not his fault sir, I threw the first punch." The man nodded in understanding.

"Well then I have to give you the same warning Duo. I can't have my team fighting with each other when we have an enemy to face. It could mean death." Duo nodded at the man's serious tone. He felt so humiliated, the whole day had just been from hell and now he was in trouble. And it had been his first day no less. He just wished he could go back in time or crawl into a hole and never come back out. The colonel smiled down at him and placed a friendly arm on his shoulder.

"Come on lets feed you." Now if there was any sentence in the world that could have lifted Duo's spirits at that moment then that had been the exact one.

The mess hall was like every other one that had ever been built in a military base anywhere throughout all of time. The food was barely edible, the metal tables were cold and uncomfortable, the noise level was just a notch above legally deafening, and the kitchen workers hated your guts. Duo loved it. It was heaven. He slid into line and chatted it up with the men and women dishing out the multicolored foodstuffs. A few of them growled at him but more often they smiled at his friendly gestures and it even got him an extra desert. It looked like some sort of pudding, he would eat it as long as it wasn't tapioca. He spotted the top of a light blonde head at a table on his left near the back and headed in that direction. He hoped the boy hadn't forgotten him already. He approached the table and noticed the tall brunette was with the blonde earlier but there was also a gruff looking dark haired youth of Asian descent. He smiled warmly as strutted over to the friendly blonde's table.

"Hey there, remember me!" He yelled out his friendly greeting and the blonde's head shot up as well as everybody else's within a five-foot radius. He chuckled and blushed a little then walked hurriedly the rest of the way to the blonde's table while everyone else returned to their questionable meals.

"Hi there again, I'm glad you've gotten the hang of this place." Duo laughed and sat down next to his new friend. This had been one of his biggest worries, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to find someone to eat with, but it looked like he not only found a friend but a whole group.

"My name is Quatre Winner. This is Trowa Barton." He said pointing to the tall brunette sitting next to him. "And that's Chang Wufei." The dark haired, serious looking teen nodded briefly to him then turned back to Trowa to discuss what sounded like strategy for something that sounded like a video game.

"Name's Duo Maxwell, it's my first year." He was kind of embarrassed now that he knew Quatre was actually older than him but the blonde just smiled at him.

"Wufei's a year below Trowa and I. So he's one year your senior. He and Trowa met during Wufei's first year and soon became rivals at the training simulator. Because of their rivalry driving them, they've actually become the best at it in all years. I don't recommend taking on either of them soon but I'd be glad to show you the ropes of it after dinner." Duo wasn't sure what the training simulator was but if it was anything like a video game it wouldn't hard for him to get the hang of. There wasn't an arcade within twenty miles of where he lived that didn't have him as the top scorer on all their machines.

"That sounds great but if we're training all the time why would we want to play with a training simulator on our time off?" Duo asked.

"Oh it's actually pretty fun. It's a great way to relieve a little stress and it's fun to compete with your friends and not have to worry about an instructor breathing down your neck. Plus you get points for every game you win that will get you stuff. Like an extra hour of free time or some teachers will let you skip quizzes if you have enough points. Just little quizzes though not like tests and probably only one." Duo frowned. He had forgotten that he would have to go to school here too. He wasn't that fond of sitting in stuffy classrooms learning about boring subjects. He didn't even get to pick his schedule, all first years had the same classes, next year he would get to choose what he took but right now he was stuck.

"Well I suppose we don't have to play if you don't want to." Quatre sounded a little worried and Duo realized that he had been frowning while thinking about school.

"No I really want to play, sorry about that I was just thinking about taking classes. I hate school." Duo stuck out his tongue then started eating his second pudding. He always ate dessert first. Quatre chuckled and gave him a questioning look at his first-course choice.

"In case I die first. II always do what I want before I do what I have to. That way I have no regrets." Quatre frowned thoughtfully, but decided not to comment and instead they focused back on Duo's hatred of school. They finished their meal with friendly banter about which teachers were the best and what boring topics first years had to take. Duo perked up a little when the boys started talking about the cool classes he could take when he moved up in rank. They laughed as they made their way over to the trashcans and stacked their lunch trays. Quatre invited Duo to the game room so he could start teaching Duo the basics. Duo nodded and grinned at the blonde, but his smile slipped when he saw a lone figure eating silently and sitting far away from the rest of the happy chattering students. He gasped slightly when deep icy-blue eyes met his own from across the crowded noisy room. The sound in the cafeteria drowned out around him and something deep inside of him pinched as those stormy orbs locked with his. There was something in them, something that sparkled just beneath the surface and Duo wasn't sure if he wanted to find out what it was.

'He really does have pretty eyes.' Was the only coherent thought that made it through the braided boy's head before the frozen depths turned away from him and he heard Quatre calling his name. He shook his head at that rebellious thought and walked quickly to catch up with his new friends.

* * *

Sorry nothing very interesting yet but pretty soon here things will start to pick up. I've got some twists planned that will melt our little Heero's heart. So...to be continued. 


End file.
